Oregon took a big step forward in its effort to make the state even greener when Governor Ted Kulongoski signed Senate Bill 838 into law last month, creating a renewable energy standard in Oregon that requires the state's largest utilities to meet 25 percent of their electric load with new renewable energy sources by 2025.
Image courtesy of OregonScenics.com

"This bill is the most significant environmental legislation we can enact in more than 30 years that will also stimulate billions of dollars in investment—creating hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs in both urban and rural Oregon," Governor Kulongoski said. "Today we are not only setting the state on a responsible path toward 25 percent renewable energy by 2025, but we are protecting our quality of life, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, stimulating our economy—and protecting ratepayers with more stable and predictable utility rates."

The legislation creates interim targets of: 5 percent by 2011; 15 percent by 2015; 20 percent by 2020; and 25 percent by 2025. To meet the standard, electricity must come from a new renewable energy source that was in operation on or after January 1, 1995. Sources of energy that count toward the standard include wind, solar, wave, geothermal, biomass, new hydro or efficiency upgrades to existing hydro facilities.

It also contains protections for ratepayers, including a 4 percent cost-cap. Utilities are not required to comply with the standard if doing so will result in cost increases of more than four percent. In addition, if none of the options for compliance are cost-effective, utilities have the option to make an Alternative Compliance Payment (ACP) to help meet their renewable energy requirement under the standard. The money will be placed into an account that can be used at a later date to acquire renewable energy, invest in conservation or, in the case of consumer-owned utilities, research and development.

Utilities that contribute less than three percent to the total state energy load are exempt from meeting 25 percent of their demand with new renewable energy source by 2025. Instead, they must meet either a five percent or 10 percent target, depending on their size. They also must comply with the large utility standard if they make new investments in coal-fired generation.

"This bill is not the end—it's just the beginning of a much broader, sustained effort to reestablish and maintain Oregon as a leader in innovative environmental and energy policies that protect our quality of life, contribute to a robust economy and combat global warming," the Governor continued. "There is still work before us this session to build on today's success. We must not leave without enacting the biofuels legislation and expanding the business energy tax credit program so we can continue to address the very real issue of climate change and create a stronger, cleaner and more energy independent Oregon.'

For more information, check out this downloadable Oregon Renewable Energy Act FAQ.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman recently announced that DOE has selected the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Partnership in Massachusetts, and the Lone Star Wind Alliance in Texas, to each receive up to $2 million in test equipment to develop large-scale wind blade test facilities, accelerating the commercial availability of wind energy. They have been selected to negotiate cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) to design, build, and operate new facilities to test the next generation of wind turbine blades.

"These two testing facilities represent an important next step in the expansion of competitiveness of the U.S. domestic wind energy industry," Secretary Bodman said, while hosting a press conference with Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. "We congratulate Massachusetts and Texas for their outstanding proposals and we believe this work will build upon the Administration's goal of prompting states to research, develop and deploy more clean energy technologies."

The states' consortia were selected to enter into agreements with DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to build facilities to test large wind blades, with an ultimate goal of testing blades up to 330 ft. (100m) in length. NREL will work with states to provide equipment and technical assistance for development and operation. This capability will help the rapidly growing wind industry achieve the President's vision that wind energy has the potential to supply up to 20 percent of the electricity consumption of the United States.

Including the DOE investment, total project costs of each test facility will total approximately $20 million. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Partnership has pledged $13 million in grants and loans for construction and startup costs, and has established reserve funding of $5 million for future blade design research and testing. The Lone Star Wind Alliance has pledged approximately $18 million from state and private sources for initial capital and startup costs.

The Lone Star Wind Alliance proposes to build a test facility in Ingleside, Texas. This Alliance includes: the University of Houston; the Texas General Land Office; Texas Workforce Commission; Texas State Energy Conservation Office; Texas A&M University; Texas Tech University; University of Texas-Austin; West Texas A&M University; Montana State University; Stanford University; New Mexico State University; Old Dominion University; the Houston Advanced Research Center; BP; DOW; Huntsman; and Shell Wind.

Blade testing is required to meet wind turbine design standards, reduce machine cost, and reduce the technical and financial risk of deploying mass-produced wind turbine models. Rapid growth in wind turbine size over the past two decades has outgrown the existing capabilities of the DOE-NREL's National Wind Technology Center, which operates the only blade test facility in North America capable of performing full-scale testing of megawatt-scale wind turbine blades.

For more information on these new testing facilities, check out the DOE press release.